Results from the "Me & My Heart" (eMocial) Study: a Randomized Evaluation of a New Smartphone-Based Support Tool to Increase Therapy Adherence of Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Purpose: This study evaluated whether patient support, administered via an electronic device-based app, increased adherence to treatment and lifestyle changes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) treated with ticagrelor in routine clinical practice.

Methods: Patients (aged ≥ 18 years) with diagnosed ACS treated with ticagrelor co-administered with low-dose acetylsalicylic acid were randomized into an active group (with support tool app for medication intake reminders and motivational messages) and a control group (without support tool app), and observed for 48 weeks (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02615704).

Living with heart failure: patient experiences and implications for physical activity and daily living.

Aims: Heart failure (HF) substantially limits the ability of patients to engage in physical activities. A detailed understanding of how patients experience these limitations is required to develop valid and sensitive measures for use in clinical research. This qualitative study was designed to provide a thorough description of how HF patients experience physical activity limitations in their daily lives.

Characteristics, Symptom Severity, and Experiences of Patients Reporting Chronic Kidney Disease in the PatientsLikeMe Online Health Community: Retrospective and Qualitative Study.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major global health burden, and is associated with increased adverse outcomes, poor quality of life, and substantial health care costs. While there is an increasing need to build patient-centered pathways for improving CKD management in clinical care, data in this field are scarce.

Objective: The aim of this study was to understand patient-reported experiences, symptoms, outcomes, and treatment journeys among patients with CKD through a retrospective and qualitative approach based on data available through PatientsLikeMe (PLM), an online community where patients can connect and share experiences.

Effects of Dapagliflozin on Symptoms, Function, and Quality of Life in Patients With Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction: Results From the DAPA-HF Trial.

Background: Goals of management in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction include reducing death and hospitalizations, and improving health status (symptoms, physical function, and quality of life). In the DAPA-HF trial (Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse-Outcomes in Heart Failure), sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin, reduced death and hospitalizations, and improved symptoms in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. In this analysis, we examine the effects of dapagliflozin on a broad range of health status outcomes, using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ).

Design and rationale for the "Me & My Heart" (eMocial) study: A randomized evaluation of a new smartphone-based support tool to increase therapy adherence of patients with acute coronary syndrome.

A novel smartphone-based patient support tool was developed to increase the adherence to antiplatelet therapy and lifestyle changes in patients after coronary angioplasty for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The eMocial study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02615704) investigates whether an electronic support tool will improve adherence to comedication and lifestyle changes in ACS patients.

Talking About Breast Cancer: Which Symptoms and Treatment Side Effects are Important to Patients with Advanced Disease?

Background: Patients' experience of symptoms and associated treatment is an increasingly important consideration in both regulatory and health technology assessments, and can inform treatment decisions.

Objective: This study aimed to gain insight directly from patients with advanced breast cancer about which symptoms and treatment side effects are important to them.

Methods: Women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer were interviewed individually by trained interviewers, using a semi-structured interview guide.

Symptom profile in partial responders to a proton pump inhibitor compared with treatment-naïve patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease: a post hoc analysis of two study populations.

Background: Partial response to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy poses a healthcare challenge. This study aimed to compare symptom profiles in partial PPI responders and treatment-naïve patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Methods: A post hoc analysis of data from two studies was performed.

Night-time symptoms and their impact on sleep in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease who have a partial response to proton pump inhibitors: a qualitative patient interview study.

Background: Limited data exists about night-time symptoms that are generated directly from patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who have a partial response to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. This information is needed to select an appropriate instrument in studies in this patient population.

Objective: The objective of this qualitative interview study was to gain understanding of the night-time symptoms of patients with GERD who had a partial response to PPIs.

Dyspeptic symptom development after discontinuation of a proton pump inhibitor: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

Objectives: Conflicting data exist on whether discontinuation of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) is associated with rebound secretion of gastric acid.

Methods: A total of 48 healthy Helicobacter pylori-negative volunteers (24 females) were randomized in a double-blinded manner to treatment with either pantoprazole 40 mg or placebo once daily for 28 days. Dyspeptic symptoms were registered daily using the Glasgow dyspepsia score (GDS) 2 weeks before, during, and 6 weeks after treatment.

Oral medications with significant hepatic metabolism at higher risk for hepatic adverse events.

Unlabelled: Reactive metabolites generated by hepatic metabolism are thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of drug-induced liver injury (DILI), but supporting data are limited. If this is true, then compounds with significant hepatic metabolism should cause more DILI than those without it. We conducted a study to examine the relationship between hepatic metabolism and DILI of prescription medications.

Relationship between daily dose of oral medications and idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury: search for signals.

Unlabelled: Idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is traditionally thought not to be dose-related. However, it has been pointed out that most medicines that were withdrawn from marketing or received a black-box warning because of hepatotoxicity were prescribed at daily doses greater than 50 mg/day. To examine the relationship between daily dose of medications and idiosyncratic DILI, we conducted a study with two aims.

Prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have previously been shown to be of importance in patients with asthma. Limited data, however, exist on the prevalence of GERD in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and information about the occurrence of the total burden of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in these patients is lacking.

Methods: A total of 113 patients with COPD completed four self-administered questionnaires: the Gastrointestinal Symptom-Rating Scale (GSRS), ROME II modular questionnaires (criteria for irritable bowel syndrome), the Psychological General Well-Being index (PGWB), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale.